In Leviticus hatred is condemned:--"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart. . . . Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people."[17] Sirach, whom I have already quoted, says in another passage, "Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he has done unto thee, so shall thy sins also be forgiven when thou prayest."[18] According to the Talmud, "whosoever does not persecute them that persecute him, whosoever takes an offence in silence, he who does good because of love, he who is cheerful under his sufferings they are the friends of God, and of them the Scripture says, And they shall shine forth as does the sun at noon-day."[19] The Koran, whilst repeating the old rule, "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,"[20] at the same time teaches that Paradise is "for those who repress their rage, and those who pardon men; God loves the kind."[21] Muhammedan tradition puts the following words in the mouth of the Prophet:--"Say not, if people do good to us, we will do good to them, and if people oppress us, we will oppress them: but resolve that if people do good to you, you will do good to them, and if they oppress you, oppress them not again."[22] Professor Goldziher emphasises Muhammed's opposition to the traditional rule of the Arabs that an enemy is a proper object of hatred;[23] and Syed Ameer Ali has collected various passages from the writings of Muhammedan scholars, which prove that, {76} in spite of what has often been said to the contrary, forgiveness of injuries is by no means foreign to the spirit of Islam.[24] Thus the author of the Kashshâf prescribes, "Seek again him who drives you away; give to him who takes away from you; pardon him who injures you: for God loveth that you should cast into the depth of your souls the roots of His perfections."[25] That "the sandal-tree perfumes the axe that fells it," is a saying in everyday use among the Muhammedans of India.[26] And Lane often heard Egyptians forgivingly say, on receiving a blow from an equal, "God bless thee," "God requite thee good," "Beat me again."[27] [Footnote 17: _Leviticus_, xix. 17 _sq._ _Cf._ _Exodus_, xxiii. 4.] [Footnote 18: _Ecclesiasticus_, xxviii. 2. _Cf._ _ibid._ x, 6; _Proverbs_, xxv. 21.] [Footnote 19: Deutsch, _Literary Remains_, p. 58. _Cf._ Katz, _Der wahre Talmudjude_, p. 11, _sq._] [Footnote 20: _Koran_, ii. 190: "Whoso transgresses against you, transgress against him like as he transgressed against you."] [Footnote 21: _Ibid._ iii. 125. _Cf._ _ibid._ xxiii. 98; xxiv. 22; xli. 34.] [Footnote 22: Lane-Poole, _Speeches and Table-Talk of Mohammad_, p. 147.] [Footnote 23: Goldziher, _Mohammedanische Studien_, i. 15 _sq._] [Footnote 24: Ameer Ali, _Ethics of Islam_, p. 26 _sqq._] [Footnote 25: _Ibid._ p. 7. _Idem_, _Life and Teachings of Mohammed_, p. 280.] [Footnote 26: Poole, _Studies in Mohammedanism_, p. 226.] [Footnote 27: Lane, _Modern Egyptians_, p. 314 _sq._]